AMC’s The Walking Dead ended its 12-year run with a heart-breaking finale this Sunday leaving fans who have grown up with the show bereft.
The zombie apocalypse series based on a group of survivors started back in 2010, airing over 11 seasons.
The last episode before the finale ended on a cliff hanger with main antagonist Pamela Milton shooting a child – that child being the fan favourite Judith Grimes.
Governor Milton unleashed a heard of walkers on her Commonwealth and locked herself in a gated residence essentially leaving everyone to die.
The show opened with an emotional Daryl running around trying to get Judith to the hospital surrounded by walkers all over the Commonwealth.
When they finally manged to make it to the hospital, Daryl was knocked out by one of Pamela’s soldiers leaving the wounded Judith, who was in a dazed state, to close all the hospital doors in a nail-biting scene.
With couple Jules and Luke both getting caught by the hoard, Jules was quickly eaten in a very sad death and Luke was bitten on the leg.
When the rest of the group finally got to the hospital Luke’s leg was cut off to prevent infection and he was surrounded by the characters he debuted with – Yumiko, Magna, Connie, and Kelly – as he bled out on the floor his friends cried by his side in a heart-crumbling scene.
At this point Rosita and Gabriel accompanied by Eugene went in search of their baby girl and in doing so, found her but were surrounded by the hoard, with Rosita falling into a bunch of walkers.
Baby in hand, Rosita’s motherly instinct kicked in as she fought her way out and escaped.
Later, in the episode Rosita revealed to Eugene in a teary scene that she got bitten during the fall, leaving Eugene and fans heartbroken.
The remaining survivors all stormed Pamela’s residence to save the rest of the locked-out Commonwealth, where Pamela’s army couldn’t stand by her actions and in turn joined forces with the survivors after Daryl’s brilliant line “We got one enemy we hate, the walking dead”.
The Commonwealth, lead by Daryl, arrested Pamela then locked the hoard in the residence and blew up the whole place in an epic scene with brilliant visual effects, burning the walkers alive.
The final 25 minutes of the episode was all goodbyes, hugs and tears as Rosita’s death approached, with one fan saying on Twitter: “One thing that broke my heart about Rosita, is that even though she knew she was dying, she still kept a smile on her face.”
Rosita’s death scene had her laying on a bed next to her daughter in her final minutes in one of the saddest scenes of all time, leaving fans heartbroken as she is one of the originals.
A one year later jump scene showed that Ezekiel had become leader of the Commonwealth, with the Commonwealth looking like it finally became the place its supposed to be.
Daryl also said goodbye to Judith, leaving the Commonwealth on his motorbike in what looks like the set up for a new spin off titled Daryl Dixon. The finale contains some brilliant acting with which really enhanced the whole experience.
As soon as the show finished The Walking Dead’s official twitter account posted a picture of the finale clapper board with the caption: “12 years. 11 seasons. 177 episodes. It’s been an honor. TWD family forever.”
However, TWD fans will be happy to know several spin-offs have been announced, with Rick Grimes and Michonne returning in a teaser at the end.
Bethany Aspinall
Tyler Law
Limo Longiroi